Follow by Email

Welcome

Blogging for his glory

The melodious songs of the birds here in the mountain seems to resound as a beautiful song of praise to the one who created all creatures great and small. I pray the words I write will be a song of praise, lifted up in joyous prose to the glory of my Heavenly Father.

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.Psalm102: 18

Thank you

Please do not copy or reproduce any photos or written content on this blog without my permission. All writing and photographs, unless otherwise sourced, are my own.

Colossians 3: 23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Psalm 19: 14

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer

Psalm 63: 3-8

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

Ink on paper is as beautiful to me as flowers on the mountains; God composes, why shouldn't we?~AudraFoveo-Alba

Psalm 50: 11

I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.

Psalm 46: 10

Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 104: 12

The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.

How great thou art

..when through the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and see the brook and feel the gentle breeze, then sings my soul, My Savior God to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Psalm 145: 16

You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

Those little nimble musicians of the air that warble forth their curious ditties, with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art--Izaak Walton

"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?"~Anne ofGreen Gables

I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library~Jane Austen~Pride andPrejudice

In this sequestered nook how sweet, to sit upon my orchard seat, and birds and flowers once more greet~William Wordsworth

Song of Songs 2: 10-13

"Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me."

Habakkuk 3: 19

The sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it, except sitting in a corner by myself with a little book~Thomas Kempis

Melodies From A Mountaintop Nest

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Woodstove

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.Ephesians 5: 19-20

It’s that time of the year again; the time when chilly days give way to cold nights, temperatures start to flirt with the low 30s, and we awake to frost blanketing the land. The eerie chill over the house means that the inevitable is about to happen….the lighting of the wood stove.It’s a yearly tradition I’ve come to dread, and one I’m praying desperately to feel more thankful about.

Wood is our main source of heat for the winter months, and anyone who has experienced the role of being the one to keep the home fires burning will understand the trials of heating solely with wood. It is not a job for the faint of heart or for those who enjoy uninterrupted nights of sleep.

I don’t feel very thankful for my wood stove most of the time. Actually, I have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with the old black stove.It’s an older well-seasoned model, rather ugly in appearance (unlike the cuter potbelly models) and the handle doesn’t open easily; I often have to whack it with a chunk of wood to get it to budge. I’ve jokingly compared the old black stove to a newborn baby, because of having to “feed” it so frequently and often having to get up at night to check on it.

I have several justifiable reasons for hating the old stove. Keeping enough firewood cut, split, and stacked to last the entire winter is a full time job in itself. Getting the stove to light can be a challenge at times also, as it can be rather stubborn to get started. At times, especially on windy days that cause a downdraft in the chimney, it gets a contrary fit and smolders, filling the house with a hazy wood smoke stench. Burnt fingers and wood splinters don't help to instill feelings of fondness either.

The stove becomes my obsession during the winter months. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, “Is the stove out?” It’s the last thing on my mind at night before I go to bed, “I better bank the stove up for the night.” When I go away I worry about it, “I wonder if the stove is out…I hope it s not smoking…I hope the house doesn’t burn down.” It’s the first thing I run to when I arrive home after being out, “Better check the stove!” Each morning I run down the steps praying to open the door and see at least a few smoldering coals, often being greeted instead with gray ashes glaring at me, meaning once again I have to re-light the stove. This same scenario is repeated if for some reason I have to leave the house for more than a few hours during the day.

I’ve tried to develop an attitude of thankfulness about my old stove. To its credit, it does provide a wonderful warm heat unlike any other kind of heat. Since I work from home, I’m able to look after the stove during the day. Wood heat is an extremely warm and consistent heat, and I’m thankful that I have a home to heat. Like a home cooked meal simmering on the stove, heat makes a home cozy and inviting on blustery days.It’s also inexpensive and saves hundreds of dollars each year that would be spent on purchasing oil or paying higher winter electric bills. It provides a good exercise workout. I get upper body strengthening each time I have to whack open the door. Since the stove is down on the basement level of our home, I do a lot of stair-stepping in the cold months. In a sense I have my own home fitness circuit complete with strength training and aerobic workouts, all for free!

God’s word says we are to be thankful and give thanks for all things, and I guess that includes my ugly old wood stove. As with anything in life, we can either choose to look at the positive side or to dwell on the negative. We truly do have so much to be thankful for each day and many reasons to praise God for the abundance of blessings we enjoy, regardless of the circumstances surrounding us.My mom used to say, “Don’t ever complain, because someone somewhere always has it much worse.” I’ve found that to be true over the years. Many of the things we complain about are rather silly and foolish, just like my complaining attitude about the wood stove.

As the cold nights and chilly days become a reality once again, I pray that I’ll keep a thankful attitude and a grateful heart for the blessing of a warm home, and for the old black wood stove, as I once again, with hesitation, resume my seasonal role as the one who keeps the home fires burning.

No comments:

Translate

Make Yourself at Home

The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely~ Louisa May Alcott

Relax and enjoy a cup of tea

The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose~George Gissing

"If you want to see birds, you must have birds in your heart"~ John Burroughs

Watch the Birds!

I enjoy watching birds, and the tiny winged creatures have brought me hours of joy and pleasure . God's creation is so beautiful and diverse, and I never tire of seeing the unique variety of birds outside my window. Besides, God's word tells us to "look at the birds of the air," and that is reason enough for me to watch the birds.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them...Matthew 6: 26

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest,A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest~Robert Montgomery

He is happiest , be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort~Jane Austen

Psalm 42: 1-2

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

"Early summer days are a jubilee time for birds. In the field, around the house, in the barn, in the woods, in the swamp--everywhere love and songs and nests and eggs~Charlotte's Web

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alonewith the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles~Anne Frank

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs--Joseph Addison

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn--Henry David Thoreau.

Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering. ~Pooh's Little Instruction Book

To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment~Jane Austen

Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop~Ovid

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me~ C.S. Lewis

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself~AbrahamMaslow

Let your bookcases and your shelves be your gardens and your pleasure grounds. Pluck the fruit that grows therein, gather the roses, the spices, and the myrrh~Judah Ibn Tibbon